


Just A Simple Touch (And It Can Set You Free)

by ifwallscouldspeak



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternative Universe - YouTube Stars, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Mentions of Abuse of Mental Health Patients, haunted asylums, slight spook
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-14 00:15:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12995619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifwallscouldspeak/pseuds/ifwallscouldspeak
Summary: “Sana? You have an idea?” Vilde asks eagerly.Sana sighs, knowing this is a bad idea before she even opens her mouth to speak. “Well, you know my brother and his friends?”Eva snorts.“ Yeah?”“They said their sponsors are really getting on them to bring in some guests, and asked if we wanted to be on their new episode of Briskeby Unsolved,” Sana explains. “If we went on their channel… we might be able to get their sponsors to sponsor our bus, or something.”(Or, a dæmon AU where the balloon squad runs a ghost-hunting YouTube channel, the girl squad helps them to explore one of the most haunted sites in Norway, and as always, Sana and Yousef are completely oblivious soulmates. Written for the 2017 Yousana Gift Exchange!)





	Just A Simple Touch (And It Can Set You Free)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sunflower123](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflower123/gifts).



> Hi loves!
> 
> What can I say about this except it's a hodgepodge of ideas that I hope ended up being a good, slighty spooky, and overall just plain fun fic to read! :)
> 
> This is my 2017 Yousana Gift Exchange gift for the wonderful [funstory](http://www.funstory.tumblr.com) on Tumblr! I don't know if this is exactly what you requested (or even partially what you requested) but I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it! 
> 
> It's based off of her wanting to see: Noora x Eva, Mikael x Adam, balloon squad, Jamilla, girl squad, soulmate AUs, magic/magical creatures
> 
> As always, all grammar, spelling and syntax errors are my own. I do not own SKAM, His Dark Materials, or Buzzfeed Unsolved (s/o to HDM and BU for being major inspirations that I shamelessly copied from).
> 
> NOTE: In this fic the gang break into Lier Sykehus, an old asylum outside of Oslo that's supposedly haunted. Please excuse any liberties I took with the stories surrounding Lier for the purposes of this fic. All information I got from it was translated from its [Wiki](https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lier_sykehus) page. 
> 
> Title comes from "I Feel It Coming" by The Weeknd ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

+++

 

_The dæmon /ˈdiːmən/ is the physical manifestation of a human soul. During the childhood of a human, their dæmon can shapeshift into any kind of animal. This change can be due to emotion, need for a particular skill such as nightvision, or simply whim. Once the human and their dæmon reaches maturity, the dæmon settles into a permanent form. This form represented the personality of their human._

_As a human and their dæmon are one being, it is physically and emotionally painful for them to separate too far from one another. Death usually follows such separation due to severe trauma. Because they are linked as one, the death of one will result in the death of the other. Upon death, the dæmon will instantly scatter into Dust._

_Dæmons frequently interact with each other in ways that mirror the behaviour of their humans, such as fighting one another when their humans are fighting, or nuzzling one another when their humans embrace, and such contact between dæmons is unremarkable. However, it is considered taboo for a person to touch another person’s dæmon. Humans whose dæmons are touched by another feel a strong sense of repulsion and pain. One exception is when two people are soulmates. For a pair of soulmates, to touch another person’s dæmon is a gesture of great love…_

 

+++

 

_About a half an hour from Oslo, the Lier Sykehus was first opened in 1926 under the supervision of the General Oblation Board. It is considered one of the most haunted spots in the country._

_Despite its reputation, and the fact that the majority of the asylum has been abandoned since 1985, parts of it still house psychiatric patients, who share their space with ghosts, shadows, and odd noises. Between 1945 and 1974, the hospital was notorious for conducting experiments on its patients, such as the testing of new and unstable drugs, shock therapies, and sensory deprivation_.

_Of the many horrors that occurred in Lier Sykehus, perhaps none are as frightening as the intercision experiments done on countless patients. Intercision is the process by which a human was separated from their dæmon. Before advancements in the healthcare industry, many believed that mental health issues were caused by ‘tainted’ connections between humans and their dæmons. The General Oblation Board believed that all disorders, hysterias, phobias, and manias could be fixed through intercision._

_A ‘successful’ intercision was one in which a human was effectively lobotomized, devoid of any sense of self, creativity, or feeling…_

_One of the saddest and most horrifying stories to come out of Lier Sykehus is that of the Intercised Soulmates._

_Legend has it that a wealthy young woman named Synnøve was in love with a poor man named Olav, whom her family didn’t approve of. One day, Synnøve’s parents discovered her cuddling with the Olav’s dæmon. Frightened at the prospect that the two were soulmates, her parents had them both thrown into Lier Sykehus. Her parents claimed they were both insane, driven to madness by the ‘uncanny and unnatural bond’ between them and their dæmons._

_They were condemned to intercision._

_Bound on opposite ends of the room, Synnøve and Olav and their dæmons reached out for each other as the doctor began the Maystadt Process. Although they struggled, they were unable to get to one another. But just as they were about to be intercised, their dæmons broke free. Synnøve’s ran to Olav, and Olav’s ran to Synnøve’s, just as the doctor made the cut using an anbaric scalpel._

_But a few things happened after the intercision was completed._

_First, rather than breaking the bonds between humans and dæmons, all four turned into golden Dust._

_Second, the doctor performing the procedure turned the scalpel towards his own dæmon, slicing her throat before turning the blade around and stabbing his own heart._

_Ever since then, there have been reports of a number of ghostly happenings inside that operating room and around the hospital. People have heard the sounds of a couple screaming, heavy footsteps racing, and the sound of metal scraping against metal. Some have seen a young girl crying and cuddling with two animals in different locations of the hospital, asking where Olav is. Others claim to have been harassed by an older doctor, chasing after them and their dæmons with a silver scalpel._

 

+++

 

Loud, excited shouting wakes Sana up with a start.

“Not them again,” Bakir growls, sticking his head underneath her pillow.

Sana takes a deep breath in through her nose, trying not to get too annoyed. Her dæmon, on the other hand, just keeps growling near her ears. She runs her hand down his back, scratching her nails in slightly. Although he’s taken the form of an African golden wolf, sometimes he acts just like a pet dog.

She vaguely hears her brother yelling ‘shut the hell up, Sana’s still asleep’ right as her alarm goes off. Sana groans and resists the urge to hit snooze on her phone.

“I hate when that happens,” Bakir says, snout still hidden under the pillow.

Sana just rolls out of bed and goes through her regular morning routine.

As usual, praying is just a tad bit more difficult with the brouhaha dancing down the hallway and through the walls. She should be more used to it by now, she knows. Ever since she and Elias moved in with Jamilla and Amir, it’s been a nonstop circus in the house. Especially with Elias deciding to convert the only empty bedroom into a filming studio. Not that Sana’s not proud of her brother and his friends - their YouTube channel, _Briskeby Unsolved,_ has really blown up - but she’s just not proud of them at six in the morning.

After Sana is finished with everything, down to fixing the last pin in her hijab, she makes her way into the kitchen. Bakir follows closely behind her, entire body rigid with annoyance. She can tell by the way his tail hangs that this it’s gonna be one of those morning.

She sighs and begins rooting around the fridge for the raspberry yogurt she’s sure she left in there. Bakir’s tails starts thumping against her leg. Sana stands up and glances towards the kitchen door. Yousef is leaning against the entryway, smiling at her. His dæmon, Adilah, has her head cocked and her tail sweeps back and forth across the floor. In the form of a Persian leopard, she always had this air of grace and deep knowing. Sometimes Sana thinks she’s kind of the complete opposite of Yousef, even though she’s the manifestation of his soul. Jamilla once described him as ‘adorkable.’

“Hey,” he says, a slow, easy grin stretching across his face.

Sana shuts the fridge door. “Hi.”

Adilah says, “Good morning, Sana.”

Adilah moves forward and nudges her face against Bakir’s in greeting. Bakir’s tail wags harder; Sana blushes and wishes she could tell him to stop making their feelings so obvious.

“Hope we didn’t wake you up,” Yousef says, pushing away from the doorframe.

Sana huffs. “No, it’s fine. I love being jolted out of my sleep by your shouts.”

He grins at her, sliding right next to her to grab a cup from a cabinet. She moves over so he can open the fridge, but somehow, she’s still kind of in his way. He reaches around her to open the door, his body blocking hers in as she scoots forward, trying not to get hit. From this close, she can smell is cologne, sharp and spicy. He gets the carton of juice out of the fridge, pouring it into his glass.

“Sorry,” her says, head bent towards her, not looking very apologetic at all.

She clears her throat. “It’s my own fault. I keep forgetting to pick up a pair of ear plugs.”

He laughs, closing the fridge and stepping away from her. “Are you dropping hints for a birthday present?”

Behind them, Adilah makes a small hissing noise like she can’t believe Yousef’s said that. Sana glances down, laughing at the look Adilah is shooting Yousef. But her heart also skips a beat; their dæmons are laying down right next to each other, tails intertwined like they’re holding hands. It’s nothing unusual; even though Sana knows she comes off as reserved, even a bit cold sometimes to other people, Bakir has no problem leaning into, playing with, or nudging against other dæmons. He’s especially friendly around her friends’ and families’ dæmons, and downright cuddly whenever Adilah is around. It always leaves Sana in a conflicted place, where she can’t tell if she’s heating up with embarrassment or contentment.

She sneaks peek at Yousef who is grinning down at their dæmons. When he notices she’s staring, his grim softens into a smaller, more intimate smile. Sana swallows, glancing down and away from his dark eyes.

“That’s a terrible gift,” she says, trying to draw the conversation back to its teasing tone.

He shrugs at her, still smiling. “I have eight months to figure it out.”

Sana purses her lips, trying not to beam at him. She wonders if this is normal, feeling this way around someone else. As long as she’s known Yousef, he’s had this uncanny ability to make her just want to grin at him, warm feelings settling in her stomach and spiking through her blood whenever she’s around him.

“Uhm, Sana,” Yousef says slowly, “I was wondering -”

“Yousef!”

Sana closes her eyes for a moment, sighing as she hears her brother entire the kitchen. When she opens them again, she sees him snickering. Halima, his fennec fox shaped dæmon, lays drapes across the back of his neck and shoulders like some kind of furry scarf. Elias goes to punch Yousef in the ribs gently; Yousef bats his hands away, face slightly red.

“You said you were just grabbing a drink,” Elias says.

Yousef waves his grape juice at Elias. “I was, man.”

“No, you were in here flirting with my sister, when you need to get your ass back in the studio,” Elias grins sharply.

“I wasn’t - Elias -”

Sana rolls her eyes, even as her heart pounds in her chest. “Elias thinks people are incapable of having conversations without it being flirting.”

“Hey!”

“Hah, uh, yeah,” Yousef says, taking a large gulp of his juice.

“Elias, did you eat my yogurt?” Sana asks, quickly trying to change the subject.

“What? No,” Elias shakes his head.

Halima lifts her head up slightly, ears twitching. “I think that was Adam.”

Sana groans; another round of shouting and laughter floats in from the studio. She vaguely hears Adam say, “you handsome-ass nutcase,” and smirks, assuming he’s talking to Mikael. Elias smacks Yousef in the ribcage with the back of his hand.

“Come on, we gotta get back to it,” Elias says. “Oh, and you too, Sana.”

Sana raises an eyebrow. “Me too, what?”

Elias gives her a dirty look. “We need your help with something. Please?”

“I already told you a thousand times, I’m not going to help Mutta hold the camera steady!” she grumbles. “Stop being so cheap and buy a tripod -”

“You have the steadiest hands of all of us!” he protests. “But - no, chill. It’s not that.”

She narrows her eyes. “Then what is it?”

He gives her a look. “Just come on.”

He disappears through the doorway, and Yousef smiles at her before following him. Adilah takes a moment to get up and stretch, her claws scraping against the linoleum floor. She saunters after Yousef and Bakir gets up, looking at her.

“No,” Sana says. “I only have twenty minutes before I have to leave, and I still haven’t eaten breakfast -”

“We’ll grab a bagel on the way,” Bakir says, before trotting towards the studio.

Sana rolls her eyes, hesitating, before following suit. She watches as Bakir nudges the door open with his muzzle and disappears into the room. Sana sighs, rubbing at her forehead with her hand for a moment.

The studio is in chaos.

There are wires and electronics strewn haphazardly all over the floor and one light is turned over on its side. The furniture is all pushes back against the walls, throw pillows shoved into one corner. The large whiteboard that’s always filled with storyboard and location ideas is a jumbled scrawl. It reminds Sana of a murder wall on one of the prime time cop dramas. A number of photos are stuck to the board with magnets and theories in different colors cover the board. There’s even a red string looping and connecting some of the photos together. Sana peers at the largest letters, in Mutta’s careful, blocky handwriting: _THE INTERCISIONS OF LIER SYKEHUS!_

Sana raises her eyebrows and stares.

Elias, Yousef and Adilah are already standing at the board with Even, gesturing at the red strings. Øyvind, Even’s red deer dæmon, is folded underneath the whiteboard, blinking sleepily. Mutta and his dæmon, a markhor named Tanveer sit on the floor; Mutta cuts something out of a newspaper, the clippings falling onto Tanveer’s back. Adam and Mikael sit on top of a table; a laptop is in Adam’s lap, and Mikael keeps pointing at the screen every few moments. Zohar, Adam’s desert monitor dæmon, lays on the windowsill in the sunlight; Mikael’s capybara dæmon Khepri scratches at her ear.

“Sana!” Adam grins at her from his spot on the table; an empty yogurt cup sits beside him.

“Great, Sana, please, come here and tell your brother that his theories are completely boring,” Even says, turning to look at Sana as well.

She points at Adam. “You owe me breakfast.”

“I’ll get you tomorrow,” Adam promises.

She huffs and walks over to the whiteboard, Bakir following close behind her.

“You’re just jealous that you can’t think of any other argument to prove me wrong,” Elias glares.

Øyvind lifts her head slightly to make a low, snorting noise.

“Exactly what she said!” Even throws his hands out.

“She’s been half asleep this entire time,” Halima says, large ears twitching.

“Don’t defend him,” Even glares pointedly.

“Where are you exploring now?” she asks, looking up at the board.

“We’re going to Lier Sykehus, to investigate the intercisions,” Mikael says.

“Apparently there’s a ton of creepy shit left over,” Adam adds.

“No to mention the ghosts -” Even starts.

“Alleged ghosts,” Elias cuts in. “Everyone knows that when you die, you become Dust -”

Even huffs. “Yeah, but sometimes there’s something tying you to this world and -”

Sana clears her throat, interrupting them. It’s the same old argument that they have before - and during - every episode of _Briskeby Unsolved._ She figures that’s part of why the viewers love it so much, besides the fact that it’s six young, attractive guys. As they go to all these so-called haunted places, each one brings a different perspective and amount of belief to the table. Even and Elias represent the two extremes: “it has to be the supernatural!” versus “it has to have a natural explanation.”

“You guys know there’s no way you’ll get permission to explore that place, right?” she shakes her head. “Most of it has been condemned. You’ll probably fall right through the floor if you take one step.”

Mikael shrugs. “Won’t be the first time we’ve trespassed -”

Yousef cuts him off, grinning. “And it won’t be the last, either.”

“The only thing that matters is the story!” Halima says.

Elias reaches up, scratching her beneath her chin. “Exactly.”

Sana shakes her head. “I won’t be posting a begging video for you once you all land in jail for breaking and entering.”

“Sana, you’ve seen the place,” Adam shakes his head. “It’s already so decrepit, we won’t have to break anything to enter.”

Everyone groans, though Mikael does lean over to kiss his boyfriend on the corner of the mouth.

“Can we get back to the theory?” Even asks, tapping the whiteboard.

Sana’s eyes scan over where he’s pointing. In Elias’s sloppy cursive, blue ink reads, _infrasound produced by storms, wind, electromagnetic appliances used in running hospital buildings could cause disturbances._

“It’s not even about the theory,” Mutta argues. “It’s about the systemic, ableist discrimination and subsequent covering up of the atrocities committed there under the careful eye of the state -”

“This is a ghost-hunting show for entertainment, not an exposé to win a Pulitzer,” Mikael mutters.

“It’s not a ghost-hunting show!” Elias insists. “Whose channel is this, anyway? It’s mine and Yousef’s, we started it -”

Sana just blinks at them. “Incredible.”

“Thank you!” Halima says.

“That’s - I wasn’t -” Sana shakes her head. “You know what? Never mind, I’m out. I gotta get to school, anyway.”

“Is it that time already? Shit,” Even curses. “Sana, will you wait for me? I’ll walk out with you.”

“Awh, come on,” Adam says. “This is more important than class -”

Even laughs. “Yeah, and I’m sure you’ll all be right here, in this same position, when we get out.”

Mikael says, “Oh, Sana, that reminds me. Have you thought any more about joining the team?”

Sana groans, wishing she had escaped when she had the chance. About once a week, one of the guys brings up the question of whether she and her friends want to be part of the latest _Briskeby Unsolved_ adventure. Sana always declines, never bothering to bring it up to her girls. Mostly because she knows that if she did, she’d probably be out-voted. And the last thing she wants to do is be on their YouTube channel.

“Nie, Mikael,” she hedges.

“But it would be so much fun!” Mutta says. “And you’d get to spend more time with Yous -”

“With all of us,” Yousef says quickly and too loudly. “With all of us.”

Mutta snickers into his hand; Adilah flicks her tail directly into Tanveer’s face.  

“I didn’t even say anything,” Tanveer sighs.

“You better watch it,” Adilah mutters.

“Also, our sponsors are hounding us to add some special guests of other genders,” Elias says bluntly. “Apparently it’s too much of a bro’s fest all the time.”

“But I thought that’s what ‘the ladies’ wanted,” Sana says snidely.

“Hey, some ladies want other ladies,” Mutta says.

Sana rolls her eyes. “That’s not -”

“Think of the sponsors, Sana,” Elias says.

Sana half waves at him. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Even? Øyvind? Ready to go?”

 

+++

 

**Vilde**

_[Tuesday, 10:47]_

 

ER mtg / 4th fl bthrm

What?

Emergency meeting in the 4th floor bathroom

Hurry!

Why didn’t you just say that Vilde?

It’s shorthand

I was trying to save time

Well, you didn’t

_[Tuesday, 10:54]_

Where are you???

Vilde

I’m in class

Oh

Is Noora with you???

Yes

Calm down

We’ll be there as soon as we can

_[Tuesday, 11:02]_

Are you on your way??????????

Sana???????

Vilde I swear

If you text me one more time

Noora and I are skipping your “emergency meeting” and going right to McDonald’s

 

+++

 

“As far as ‘secure meeting spots’ go, the bathroom isn’t very good,” Noora complains as she goes up the stairs two at a time.

Sana hums in agreement. “But you know how Vilde is.”

“And because Kjetil’s probably thirsty,” Jeremias, Noora’s dæmon, squawks.

“Jeremias!” Noora stops and glares at him.

Jeremias, a demoiselle crane, just flaps his wings back at her. Sana tries to hide her laugh behind a cough. Beside him, Bakir chuckles unabashedly. Noora shoots them both an unimpressed look.

“Because he’s a dog,” Jeremias continues speaking, “And dogs drink toilet water -”

“Enough!” Noora says.

“But you were thinking it -”

They reach the bathroom and Sana shoves the door open. It’s not the first time, and it won’t ever be the last, that Sana snorts thinking about how strange it is that Noora’s dæmon is so outlandish and brash, while Noora is usually reserved.

“Halla, halla,” Chris waves as they all crowd into the bathroom.

She’s perched on the window ledge, leg swinging off of it. She has a lollipop in her mouth and smiles around it at Noora and Sana. Her dæmon, a red-footed booby named George, is slowly circling around outside, flying close to the building. Eva leans against the sinks, a tuft of fur sticking out from underneath her wool scarf. As usual, her European polecat dæmon, Eduard, is hiding and dozing under her layers of clothing. Vilde stands in the middle of the room, scrolling through her phone. Her dæmon Kjetil, a large Doberman, is lying down under the sinks.

“Oh, good,” Vilde says, looking up from her phone. “I was just about to text you.”

“Because we definitely didn’t get the other three that you sent in the past ten minutes,” Sana says, rolling her eyes.

“We were in class, Vilde,” Noora tells her.

“This is more important than class!” Vilde says, shaking her phone at them.

“Right, of course. Impromptu meetings in bathrooms always come before a proper education,” Bakir says.

He lazily goes to lie down next to Kjetil. Jeremias hops up onto the windowsill; Chris gently moves her leg out of the way so none of his feathers brush against her. He hops out of the window, greeting George. Noora leans in to kiss Eva before moving to sit next to Chris.

“It could actually be serious this time,” Eva says.

Vilde turns her head to glare. “This time?”

Chris starts, “Remember when you called us all in here because you had a nightmare that you were drowning in a pool full of unsellable toilet paper?”

Vilde glares. “That could’ve been a bad omen and you know it!”

“Vilde, shh,” Sana says. “Come on, what’s up?”

“We’re still 80,000 short for our bus!” Vilde says, eyes wide.

Sana stares at her for a few moments, noticing that Noora is looking at the side of her face in amusement. Eva’s lips are pursed, like she’s trying not to burst into laughter. Chris is snickering behind one hand, and when she looks down, she sees that Bakir has a paw over his face as well.

“This is your big problem?” Sana raises her eyebrows. “We already knew that, Vilde.”

Noora snorts. “Vilde, I could be studying right now. I have a major exam coming up for economics.”

Vilde throws her hands up. “Oh, so your test is more important than our bus?”

“Uh, yeah!”

“Vilde, Mari said we don’t have to get the money to her until July, so we have time,” Sana says.

Vilde purses her lips. “Yeah, but I overheard the Pepsi Max girls saying that they are gonna try to offer her double what we’re paying so that they can get the bus instead.”

“Yeah, but Mari likes us, I don’t think she’d back out of our agreement,” Noora says.

“Oh yeah?” Vilde thrusts her phone at them.

Sana reaches for it. Noora glances her way, but Sana just looks down at the phone, reading through the message on the screen. _Hi Vilde, just checking in about payment! I know we said a couple of months… but do you and the girls think you’ll be able to get it to me in 2 weeks instead? No pressure but some of the girls are getting antsy…._

This… isn’t good,” Sana frowns, before passing the phone over to Noora.

“See!” Vilde throws her hands up. “They’re gonna give our bus away!”

Chris shakes her head. “These hoes ain’t loyal.”

“What are we going to do?” Vilde asks. “There’s no way we can get that much money in just two weeks -”

“And we have no sponsors,” Chris frowns. “Shit.“

Sana frowns thoughtfully. She really, really doesn’t want to bring her brother into this, but wasn’t he just complaining about his sponsors? Maybe -

“Maybe this is an omen,” Noora shrugs.

“An omen?” Vilde’s eyes grow wide.

“That we shouldn’t get this bus,” she shrugs.

“Noora!”

“I just don’t think it’s gonna be possible to get the money,” Noora says, frowning. “And if we do, why would we spend so much -”

Vilde interrupts her. “It’s an investment, Noora -”

Sana clears her throat. “What if we didn’t have to pay for all of it?”

Four pairs of human eyes and two pairs of dæmon eyes stare at her. Bakir cocks his head and then chuckles.

“Of course,” he says.

“Sana? You have an idea?” Vilde asks eagerly.

Sana sighs, knowing this is a bad idea before she even opens her mouth to speak. “Well, you know my brother and his friends?”

Eva snorts.“ Yeah?”

“They said their sponsors are really getting on them to bring in some guests, and asked if we wanted to be on their new episode of _Briskeby Unsolved_ ,” Sana explains. “If we went on their channel… we might be able to get their sponsors to sponsor our bus, or something.”

It’s completely quiet for a few moments. Vilde’s mouth drops open and Chris’s eyes are impossibly wide. Noora just looks at her blankly; Eva’s hands still on her scarf, right as Eduard starts to nibble on her fingertips.

“Are you serious?” Eva’s the first to speak.

Sana nods. “Yeah.”

Vilde squeals. “If we did this, Mari wouldn’t even think of giving the bus to those bitches!”

“Yeah but we’d be on YouTube! Exploring some haunted mansion!” Noora gives her a crazed look. “No, thank you!”

Bakir pipes up. “Actually, it’s Lier Sykehus.”

Noora flings her arms out. “That’s even worse!”

Vilde folds her arms over her chest. “Noora, but think about how good this would be for us, for our image and our bus. We could even theme it after -”

“After a spooky asylum?” Noora glares. “Are you serious right now?”

Kjetil lifts his head slightly. “Completely serious.”

Noora says, “Do you know what they used to do to people in there?”

“They don’t do that anymore,” Chris says. “Aren’t parts of it still a working hospital, anyway?”

“Yeah, but -”

Chris kicks Noora gently in the leg. “Come on, where’s your sense of adventure!”

Noora rolls her eyes. “I left it at home today, decided to bring my sense of I don’t want to get tetanus from a rusty nail, or worse, be intercised.”

“Well, I think we should do it,” Vilde says. “Think about it. ” _Briskeby Unsolved_ is a big hit. We’d get loads of positive press for our bus. And it’s not like we’d be by ourselves - the guys know what they’re doing.”

“Also it’s just fucking nuts!” Chris grins. “We’d have so much fun.”

“I don’t know.” Noora frowns. “It’s not only the haunted part that scares me, but it’s illegal to even go into the space. What if we get caught by the cops? Or something happens after the episode airs?  Is getting this bus really worth it?”

Eva shakes her head. “I think Noora’s right. I don’t want to risk it.”

“Of course you agree with your girlfriend,” Chris sighs.

“Hey!” Eva rolls her eyes. “That’s not it. It’s really dangerous.”

Noora shrugs. “And even if it wasn’t, you know I don’t really care about Russ. You know I only joined so that I could get to know you all.”

Vilde squares her shoulders. “I think we should still do it. We can’t let the fear or something happening to us stop us from living our lives or having fun. If we did that, we’d be stuck in this bathroom forever, just waiting for something horrible to happen.”

“Nice speech,” Bakir says.

Eva looks at Sana. “What do you think?”

Noora stares at her expectantly. “Yeah, Sana, do you want to do this?”

They all look at her: the deciding vote. Bakir lifts his head slightly off of his paws, cocking his head to the side. Sana closes her eyes briefly. A large part of her wants to say no, that she doesn’t think all of this is worth it. But another part of her thinks it might be fun, and it would solve all of their problems. There’s no way they wouldn’t be able to either get the money to buy the bus if they went on _Briskeby Unsolved._ And… well… it could be fun, right? The guys always look like they have a good time. And maybe Elias would stop pestering her about it if they did it this once…

She opens her eyes. “Let’s do it.”

Vilde and Chris cheer as Noora groans. Eva shrugs her shoulders slightly but smiles. Sana smiles back at her tentatively, hoping this isn’t all going to be one big mistake.

 

+++

 

**Los BOOsers <3 **

_[Wednesday, 15:26]_

_Noora_

Okay, who changed the chat name?

 

_Chris_

Hehehehehe

 

_Noora_

Chris!

 

_Chris_

What?

It’s to get us in the SPIRIT

 

That’s a terrible pun

 

_Eva_

I give it a 4/10

 

_Chris_

You just don’t appreciate my wit

 

_Vilde_

Sana, have you talked to your brother yet?

I just got off the phone with Mari

She says that it’s so exciting that we’re getting sponsors

And the girls all agree that they’d much rather us have the bus

 

I’m going to talk to him today

When I get home

 

_Vilde_

Okay

Make sure you do it!

Or else I think they’ll definitely give the bus to Pepsi Max

 

_Noora_

I still can’t believe we’re doing this

 

_Chris_

Awwh, come on Noora

It will be fun

We’ll have a GHOULate time

 

Ghuolate?

 

_Chris_

Yeah

Like ghoul and great

 

…

 

_Eva_

2/10

 

+++

 

“Elias, for the last time, I’m not going to exploit my patients for your channel!”

Jamilla’s voice, firm and annoyed, floats through the living room as Sana steps inside the apartment. She rolls her eyes, her gaze landing near her feet. There are only a few pairs of shoes scattered around the entryway, so the whole balloon squad must not be over. Bakir noses at one of the sneakers before looking back up at Sana with a toothy grin. Sana knows it’s Yousef's shoe and purses her lips at Bakir.

“It’s just weird when you do that!”  She says, toeing off her own sneakers.

He just sniffs at her and trots towards the kitchen.

“I’m not asking you to exploit your patients, just give us access to the condemned buildings,” Elias argues.

Sana steps into the kitchen. Elias and Jamilla are weaving around each other as they cook different dishes; it’s becomes a tradition for Elias to do the meats and veggies while Jamilla focuses on the carbs and desserts. Yousef is sitting at the kitchen table, his laptop open in front of him as he types; Adilah is dozing by his feet. Jamilla’s dæmon, Xidig, and Halima are just outside the kitchen, playing around in the garden. Xidig, shaped like a Dorcas gazelle, appears to be winning, whatever it is they’re doing. A mild breeze comes into the room. Sana loves the spring and how warm it gets, nice enough to leave the doors open in the evening.

“Halla,” Sana says, moving to sit down next to Yousef.

He looks up and smiles at her, stopping whatever he was typing. Beneath them, Bakir nudges Adilah in the side with his nose. She makes a small sound before getting up. She stretches, before playfully nipping at Bakir. He runs outside to join Xidig and Halima, Adilah right on his tail.

“I swear they act more like pets than souls sometimes,” Yousef says, grinning after them.

“Yeah, Adilah especially acts like a kitten whenever Bakir shows up,” Jamilla says, a teasing smile on her face.

Elias snickers. “I’m always surprised when Bakir doesn’t try to just jump up into Yousef’s la -”

Sana clears her throat loudly, trying to pretend she hasn’t heard what Jamilla and Elias just said.

It’s not unheard of, necessarily, for dæmons to interact with other humans. But unless the two people are deeply in love – soulmates – they definitely wouldn’t touch. Sana knows there are people out there who are soulmates, but she’s never met any of them. Even with her friends who are so deeply in love, like Noora and Eva, haven’t touched the other’s dæmon. She really wishes that Elias would stop with the jokes like that, especially around Yousef. Sana knows that he likes her, sure. But… as something more than a friend? Something even more than a partner? Sometimes she wishes it was as simple as Bakir seems to make it seem, when he’s just snapping playfully at Adilah or chasing her around.

Yousef’s gaze is on her face, soft and slightly embarrassed. Sana gestures towards the laptop.

“What’re you doing?” she asks.

Yousef says, “Just replying to one of our sponsors. He wants to know if there’s anything extra we need for our new video.”

“Besides a way in,” Elias says, shooting a pointed look at Jamilla.

Jamilla puts her hands on her hips, gripping a wooden spoon. “I already told you -”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re not putting your job in jeopardy by sneaking us into the abandoned wards,” Elias says.

“I could lose my medical license!” Jamilla starts. “Besides, it’s illegal -”

“Only if we get caught,” Elias insists.

“Elias -”

“What’s the point of even working in Lier if you’re not gonna take a risk once in awhile -”

“Right,” Jamilla says sarcastically, “because all that life saving I do? Just nonsense.”

Sana clears her throat, turning towards Yousef. “Could you… ask if they’re willing to sponsor a bunch of Russ girls?”

Yousef quirks his eyebrows at her. “What’re you saying, Sana?”

“If there’s still room for us, the girls and I -”

“Whoo!” Elias yelps, grinning. “That’s awesome, Sana!”

A smile melts onto Yousef’s face. “You’re gonna come ghost hunting with us?”

Elias groans, “Yousef, I swear -”

Sana cuts him off. “Yeah, we are.”

Jamilla raises her eyebrows. “Why the change of heart, all of a sudden? You’ve been against joining in since they started _Briskeby Unsolved_.”

Sana licks her lips. “Uhm, we kind of… need some help getting our bus.”

“Your bus?” Jamilla frowns, now. “I thought Mari and the girls were selling you theirs?”

“Yeah, but we’re really short on funds, and they need the money sooner than expected,” Sana says. “So...”

“If you’re on the show, we can of course get our sponsors to help you out!” Yousef says quickly. “Right, Elias?”

Elias smirks. “Yeah, yeah, I’m sure they’d love to help. Or if anything, we’ll set up a YouCaring link at the end of the video.”

Sana smiles, slumping slightly in relief. “Awesome, I’ll let the girls know.”

“Yeah, and if all else fails, I’ll sell a kidney,” Yousef winks at her.

Sana swallows hard, a bit too dazed to respond right away. “Haha, right.”

She pretends not to see the manic looks Jamilla and Elias are shooting each other; she thinks she hears Jamilla mutter, “Yeah, Yousef would saw off his whole arm and donate both kidneys if Sana asked,” before Elias bursts into knowing laughter. She sneaks a peak at Yousef through the corner of her eyes; his face is slightly scrunched up in embarrassment. She wishes she knew what that embarrassment means.

“I’ll let the sponsors know that you and the girls are gonna be guest starring,” Yousef says a beat too late, turning back towards his laptop. “We’re gonna need more flashlights, video cameras. They usually buy everything up front and then they reimburse us for materials.”

Sana smiles. “Yeah, okay.”

“And I’ll see what we can do about making sure you can afford your bus,” he adds.

“Thanks,” she says sincerely. “I really appreciate it. Uhm – all of us do.”

“Yeah. And don’t worry, it’ll be a lot of fun,” Yousef smiles.

“Right,” Sana says.

“Yeah, and Sana can hold your hand when you get scared,” Elias says.

“Hey, I can be tough!” Yousef says, balling up a napkin and throwing it at Elias.

“Yeah, okay. We’ve all seen the show, we know you’re the biggest scaredy cat -” Jamilla starts laughing. “No dæmon pun intended.”

 

+++

 

**Elias**

_[Thursday, 16:06]_

Hey sis

You home?

Yah

You busy right now?

Not really, just homework

Why?

Can you please go to the hardware store to pick up more supplies for tomorrow night?

We need more batteries, hard hats, industrial flashlights, a couple of other things

With what money am I supposed to buy these things??

Wallah, I got you

Just use my emergency credit card, you know where I keep it

Fine

I’m leaving in a few minutes

Cool

Yousef will meet you there in ten

Elias!!!

;)

 

+++

 

Sana walks close to Yousef as he pushes their shopping cart down the aisle, Bakir and Adilah behind them. Every so often, Yousef nudges Sana and points out another ridiculous-looking device. It’s usually accompanied with a humorous story about one of the guys trying to use it and failing miserably.

“You see that?” He puts his arm around her, pointing out something that looks like a grappling hook. “Adam was convinced we could use one of those things to propel ourselves onto a roof, like Batman or something.”

Sana laughs. “I remember that episode, I think. You were trying to break into Hotel Union Øye through the roof, weren’t you?”

“Heh, yeah! There was a fancy dinner event happening the night we were supposed to go in, and the staff wouldn’t let us through,” Yousef smiles, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

Sana laughs. “I remember that - didn’t you end up getting chased out by a caterer that Even swore up and down was actually a ghost?”

“Yeah,” Yousef laughs.

“So what happened with the grappling hook?”

“Adam tried to throw it up, but he missed by a few feet. So when it came back down, it smacked him in the face - almost gave him a black eye.”

Sana cackles. “No!”

Even though Yousef’s stopped pointing, he doesn’t move his arm away. Instead, he drops it down to Sana’s shoulders, palm gently curling around her.  Sana pretends she’s not blushing and shifts closer, grabbing a hold of the cart so Yousef doesn’t have to push with one hand. It’s already full of extra safety gear and camera equipment.

“I remember when you were editing that one, but I don’t remember that,” Sana says.

Yousef says, “Adam made us delete the footage as soon as we shot it. He was so embarrassed I thought he was gonna pass out.”

“Of course,” Sana says. “All of you are totally over-dramatic.”

“Hey!” he protests.

She raises an eyebrow. “Point made.”

Yousef chuckles. “Yeah. But you should’ve seen Zohar, after that. She basically wrapped herself around Tanveer’s neck and hissed whenever Adam tried to move her.”

Sana smiles. “Him and Mikael are really happy together, aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” Yousef says. “The other day I heard them talking about how many children they wanted.”

“Really?”

“They debated for awhile and then settled on four.”

Sana raises her eyebrows. “Four kids? That’s -”

“Not enough, I know,” Yousef says.

Sana almost chokes on her spit. “Not enough!”

He furrows his brow at her. “Well, yeah.”

“You’re telling me you want more than four kids?”

“Of course,” he says, like she’s just asked if the sky is blue. “Don’t you like kids?”

“Yeah, I love kids, but -”

“So how many do you want?”

They’ve stopped in front of a flashlight display, right next to a cardboard cutout of a rugged, bearded man. The advertisement claims that the flashlight is waterproof, fire resistant, and able to work in -50 degree weather. Bakir and Adilah stop when they do.

“I don’t know,” Sana says. “Uhm, two?”

“Two?” Yousef’s eyebrows rise to his hairline. “Two? Wow. Two. Okay.”

Sana crosses her arms over her chest. “Well, how many do you want?”

“Twelve,” he says without hesitation.

“Twelve?” Sana’s eyes almost bulge out.

“Yeah, that’s how many you would want, too, if you really loved kids,” Yousef says.

“That’s easy for you to say, when you wouldn’t be the one giving birth twelve times,” Bakir says, shaking his furry head.

Adilah snorts; Yousef glances down, looking wounded, like he’s just been betrayed.

“What?” she asks. “Yousef, you walked right into that one.”

“Adilah!”

“Why would you even want that many kids, anyway?” Sana shakes her head. “Trying to start a football team, or something?”

Yousef beams at her. “Exactly! Plus one extra, in case anyone gets hurt -”

Sana can’t stop the disbelieving laugh that comes out of her mouth. “Yousef, that’s insane.”

“Is it? Or is it genius?” he’s giving her his patented lopsided grin, the one that makes her heart stop.

She shakes her head and keeps pushing the cart forward. As she turns into a new aisle, a saleswoman comes up to them with a bright smile. Her nametag says Geena, and she has a necklace with a glass ball around her neck. Sana glances down and notices a monarch butterfly-shaped dæmon inside of it. Even though it can be hard getting around with Bakir because of his size, Sana doesn’t envy the salesman. Having a dæmon that small would freak her out. She would be too worried about crushing it.

Geena smiles at them warmly. “Can I help you two find anything today?”

Sana says, “We’re just looking for some hardhats - the kind with flashlights on them?”

Geena nods. “We have some over here -”

Geena is about to turn, gesturing at them with her hands, when she pauses in the middle of walking. Sana and Yousef stop short; Sana almost runs Bakir over with the shopping cart. He looks back and glares at her. She mouths an apology as Geena peers at Yousef like she knows him, before snapping her fingers. She starts grinning and waving her hands around like crazy.

“Wait, I’m so sorry, I just recognized you,” Geena says. “Aren’t you from _Briskeby Unsolved_?”

Yousef nods bashfully. “Yes, hi.”

“I’m such a huge fan!” Geena gushes. “Your show is so fun - I had no idea you shopped for your equipment here!”

Yousef nods, “we usually order things online, but -”

“Ooooh, so that must mean you’re going someplace soon, right?” Geena beams. “Can I ask where?”

Yousef glances at Sana. “Well, we usually don’t like to advertise, you know, so we can do our work without being, uh, interrupted by fans -”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Geena waves her hands. “Yeah, of course.”

“Thanks,” Yousef smiles gratefully.

“It must be so exciting,” Geena says, turning towards Sana, “do you ever worry about him going into those creepy-ass places?”

Sana furrows her brow. “Uhm -”

“If my girlfriend did half of the stuff I’ve seen these guys do, I’d totally freak out,” Geena says, nodding towards Yousef.

It’s then that San realizes that Yousef’s arm is still around her shoulder. She blushes as Yousef startles. His hand clenches on her shoulder and then drops down.

“Uhm -” Yousef stutters next to her.

Geena raises her eyebrows and glances down towards Adilah and Bakir. Sana follows her gaze and almost groans. Adilah is nuzzling Bakir, right underneath his neck, like they’re at home and not in the middle of a hardware store. It’s adorable but it’s also something that has ‘couple’ written all over it. She’s seen Jeremias and Eduard do things like this when they’re all hanging out in Eva’s room.

“Uhm,” Sana says, trying not to blush, “yeah. Yeah, I worry about him. Uh - them. All of them.”

Geena gives her a knowing look. “Right.”

“Elias is my brother,” Sana says, almost desperately, not sure why she’s sharing this information with a stranger.

“Yeah, of course,” Geena grins at her.

Yousef’s voice sounds strained. “The hardhats?”

“Oh, yeah!” Geena turns on her heel. “They’re just down here, in aisle four. We got a bunch of new ones in, doing this sweet promo deal, buy one, get one half off.”

Sana, Yousef, Adilah and Bakir follow Geena silently to aisle four. Sana pretends to listen to her chatter about the new shipment and how the hardhats come in three different shades of blue, but all she can think of is the phantom feel of Yousef’s arm still around her. She tries not to look at him through the corner of her eyes, wondering if he’s as embarrassed about it all as she is.

She’s not upset that Geena assumed they were a couple; for a moment there, Sana felt warm and fluttery over the implication. But she’s upset that so many people keep bringing it up. It’s one thing when it her family or friends just teasing them, but it’s another ballgame when it’s a complete stranger. She’s not afraid to admit to herself how much she really, really likes Yousef. Every time they’re together she’s so aware of him, almost like she can’t breathe. She feels tied to him in a way she can’t explain, kind of the same way she feels tied to Bakir.

The whole, messy problem is that she just has no idea of knowing if he feels the same way. For someone so transparent in the way he adores his friends, she’s never quite sure what he’s thinking when it comes to her. All she knows is no one makes her laugh or think deeply or just feel so seen as he does.

“Anyway, here we are,” Geena says, throwing her arm out once they get to the aisle.

“Thank you,” Yousef says.

“No problem,” Geena says. “I can’t wait to see the new episode!”

She walks away towards a confused man holding a wrench in one hand and a pair of pliers in the other. Sana slowly turns the cart down the aisle as Yousef walks next to her, rubbing at the back of his head.

“Sorry about that,” he says, looking at her through the corner of his eyes.

Sana clears her throat. “Sorry about what?”

“Her - uhm, you know,” Yousef says slowly. “Assuming things, about us.”

Sana takes a deep breath. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Right,” Yousef says. “Right, it’s not a big deal. Because...”

“Ugh, the two of you,” Sana hears Bakir say as he and Adilah go towards the hardhats.

Sana stops the cart, her heart thudding in her chest. “Uhm.”

Yousef stops too, turning to face her fully. “Sana, I...”

She raises her eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“What if… what if it is a big deal?” he says, voice going quiet.

Sana tilts her face up slightly. “Yousef -”

He swallows. “I -”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, we also have rain ponchos, 20% off!”

Sana startles and takes a step back as Geena bounds up to them in the aisle. She has a fist full of ponchos, and thrusts them towards Yousef. He takes them out of her hands, sighing, and tossing all of them into the shopping cart. As Geena saunters off, Sana tries to catch his eye again. But all he does is screw his face up slightly, eyes closed for a few moments. Just as she’s about to say his name, he turns to stare determinedly at the hardhats, practically ignoring her.

Sana thinks they were having some kind of moment, but it’s obvious that she’s wrong. Because he’s just standing there, staring at the shelves like they hold the key to his future. On his other side, Adilah is making a low, whining sound. Sana thinks that she’s probably just bored, and wants to get out of the store as soon as possible. Sana feels Bakir brush against her leg and she bends down slightly, scratching her nails through the fur on his head, trying to ground herself slightly.

Yousef clears his throat, still not looking at her. “Uhm, so we probably only need a few of these.”

Sana nods and tries to ignore the way her heart is sinking. “Right.”

 

+++

 

**Even**

_[Friday, 14:43]_

Hey, Sana

Be sure to check your email asap, okay?

I sent you some research on Lier Sykehus

Even

Are you giving me homework?

Not just you!

All the girls

I feel like it’s disrespectful to go into a haunted place without doing a bit of reading up first

That way when you run into ghosts, you can address them by name and title

...Are you serious?

Yes!

Well

Okay, thanks Even

No problem

Don’t tell your brother

Or he’ll probably make you read some boring lecture

On differences in gravitational energy

That cause visual disturbances

Too late

I’ve have a stack of readings from him on my desk since yesterday

Are you serious?

Yes

I can send a photo if you want

No

He tries to get me to ready those papers once a day

But I know the truth

Ghosts being the truth?

Yes, Sana!

Some things can’t be explained by the natural world

Right

Just read what I sent you and you’ll believe!

I’m not saying I don’t believe, exactly

Just wait until we start exploring, Sana

And we’ll be talking about ghosts and multiverses and parallel universes soon

Haha

Okay Even

:)

 

+++

 

Sana walks slowly beside Eva and Noora, enjoying the nice weather. The two girlfriends are holding hands; Eva has a book clutched to her chest with her free one. Bakir trots slowly ahead of them, while Eduard cuddles down in the hood of Eva’s jacket. Jeremias circles around their heads, flying slowly and contentedly to match the easy pace.

“I still can’t believe we’re doing this,” Noora snorts. “And I think Vilde’s told the whole school. I walked past Ingrid and Sara today, and they were complaining about how it’s not fair that ‘regular Norwegian party girls’ can’t get sponsors but ‘other people’ can get YouTube to donate money.”

“YouTube’s not donating money to our bus,” Sana frowns.

“Not according to Isak and Even,” Eva grins. “They said it really loudly in class today, I think just to make fun of Pepsi Max.”

Sana shakes her head. “Ugh, this is such a bad idea. I should’ve just voted no.”

Noora pokes her in the side. “Well, you didn’t, so here we are.”

“It might actually be fun,” Eva says, tilting her head slightly. “Isn’t all the weird stuff that happens on the show just the boys fooling around anyway?”

Sana tells her no. “They swear up and down that most of the stuff that happens isn’t staged.”

“And none of them can prove if it’s actually ghosts or what,” Eva hums.

“Sana, what do you think?” Noora smirks. “Are you more of an Elias or an Even?”

Sana groans; a few weeks ago, everyone in her class had taken that stupid Buzzfeed quiz on the boys. She would never admit it, least her friends tease her, but she had actually gotten _You’re totally a Yousef! You’re not sure if anything spooky’s really happening, but you’re open to the possibilities. You’re always down to go on a hunt and have a good time - as long as you’re not the first to enter anywhere too crazy!_

“I don’t know,” she admits. “I’ve been around the boys enough when they’re editing the videos to see a lot of the raw footage. A lot of it seems pretty real.”

“But is that just your fear talking?” Noora shrugs. “I’ve been on a haunted hay ride or too, and all of it so obviously fake once you get over being afraid.”

“Yeah, but those are totally staged,” Eva says. “The guys all go to places that have been abandoned or do research on mysterious shit that really can’t have a scientific explanation.”

“Not according to Elias,” Sana shrugs. “He just doesn’t believe in ghosts.”

“Mikael doesn’t either, right?” Eva asks.

Sana nods. “But for different reasons, I think. The Quran and the Hadith doesn’t mention ghosts, and it’s not something that’s really discussed in Islam.”

“But other kinds of spirits are, right?” Noora asks. “What are they called again, he talks about them all the time - jims?”

Sana nods. “Kind of - they’re called jinn.”

“Oh, oh right,” Noora nods.

“But even that’s more complicated,” Sana says. “Some theologians think that ‘jinn’ is just another word for ‘dæmon,’ some thing jinn are spiritual beings, and some think that they’re just manifestations of people’s thoughts.”

Eva shakes her head. “It’s really interesting stuff to talk about.”

Sana snorts. “Yeah, and we’ll all have the opportunity to do that on camera soon.”

Eva lifts up the book in her hand slightly. “Anyway, haunted or not, there was a lot of crazy stuff happening at Lier when it was fully operational. I’ve been reading this book, _23-Salen_ , and it’s wild.”

“Yeah?” Noora asks.

Eva nods. “It’s written by this guy, Ingvar Ambjørnsen, who used to be a nurse in the asylum. The whole book is based off of his experiences, seeing all the horrible things that were being done to patients at the time.”

Noora shudders. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

“Yeah, one of the things he says was ‘it was a strange experience to see how fast you could fall morally,’” Eva says. “That one bit has kept me up the past few nights.”

Sana says, “the guys have been trying to do more research on it, too, but besides that book and a few other accounts - there’s not a lot of information on what happened there, or what the final straw was to it being shut down.”

“It had to have been the intercisions,” Noora says. “Right?”

Sana shakes her head no. “I think at the time, doing that to people with mental illnesses was common.”

“That’s just disgusting,” Noora says.

Jeremias swoops down low for a moment, rubbing his beak against Noora’s cheek comfortingly. Sana takes a deep breath, also reaching out to stroke Bakir’s head slightly. Just thinking about the horrifying procedure makes a shiver crawl up her spine.

“Well, thankfully they don’t do that anymore,” Sana says.

“Yeah,” Noora agrees. “Yeah, right.”

“Do you think we’ll run into one of them?” Eva asks. “The ghost of someone who was intercised?”

Noora lets out a shaky breath. “I hope not.”

Sana tries to put a bright smile on her face. “Look, we’ll probably just see a bunch of mice and decrepit, rusty beds. Elias will probably try to prank us, and that’s it.”

“Exactly,” Noora says, not sounding too convinced.

“Yeah, it’ll be fine, probably,” Eva says, before she grins wickedly. “And if it’s too scary, you’ll be there to hold Yousef’s hand.”

Noora bursts into laughter and Sana feels her face go red.

“Elias made the same joke a few days ago,” Bakir says over his furry shoulder.

“Bakir!”

That makes Noora and Eva laugh even harder. They almost fall over as they walk, clutching each other for support. Sana quickens her steps, trying to get away from their flailing arms.

“It wasn’t funny then, and it’s not funny now!” she says.

“It’s a little funny,” Noora calls after her.

“Awh, come on, what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t tease you about Yousef?” Eva practically yells.

“Good ones!” Sana shouts back.

Noora and Eva catch up to her quickly, letting go of one another’s hands so that they can go on either side of Sana. Noora throws her arm around Sana’s shoulders, and Eva grabs onto her arm, tugging at Sana’s sleeve.

“Sana, come on, we’re just joking,” Noora says.

Sana sighs. “I know.”

“Look,” Eva darts a glance at her, “I know you said earlier you didn’t want to talk about what happened in the hardware store -”

“So why, exactly, are you speaking now?” Sana mutters.

“- But I think you’re thinking about this all wrong,” Eva says. “Yousef is head over heels for you. He has to be.”

Eduard’s head pops up from Eva’s hood. “Any being with at least one eye can see that!”

“Don’t bother, she doesn’t want to hear it,” Bakir says.

Sana purses her lips. “None of you were there -”

“I was,” Bakir interrupts.

“ - So you don’t know. It’s so easy for you two to say that,” Sana nudges Eva, “because you’re so ridiculously in love that you think everyone else is, too.”

“Sana, come on, I’m not just saying it,” Eva frowns.

Noora says, “Yeah, Sana. It’s - ugh, I can’t be bothered. We have this conversation every other day and you just don’t seem to get how he feels about you.”

Sana sighs. “I can only go off of what I see. And yesterday? He completely shut down. I think he was trying to spare my feelings.”

“Spare your feelings?”

“You know,” Sana waves. “Not have the awkward, ‘you're my best friend’s little sister and I don’t see you in that way’ talk.”

“Sana, that’s literally the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Eva groans.

Sana shakes her head. “Yousef’s not into me. If he were, he would’ve said something a long time ago. We’ve known each other forever.”

“Maybe he thinks the same thing you do, though,” Noora says, leaning her head into Sana’s shoulder. “You can be really aloof. Maybe he’s too scared you’ll reject him.”

Sana snorts. “Yeah, right.”

Above them, Jeremias squawks. “Bakir, what does Adilah say?”

“She never really says much of anything,” Bakir says.

“See?” Sana raises her eyebrows.

“But?” Eva looks at Bakir expectantly.

“But she has mentioned that she wishes Yousef would just ‘buckle down’ and tell Sana how he feels already,” Bakir says.

“Oh my God!” Eva cries. “See? Sana, he totally loves you -”

Sana says, “That doesn’t mean anything! ‘How he feels’ could be that he thinks I hang around too much, or -”

Noora’s voice is gentle. “Sana, come on. You can’t really think -”

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore, okay?” Sana says firmly, her mouth setting into a line.

“Fine,” Eva sighs. “Fine okay.”

Noora looks like she’s going to argue, but just squeezes her hand around Sana’s shoulders instead.

 

+++

 

**Jamilla & Elias **

_[Saturday, 16:54]_

 

_Jamilla_

Are you all still going to break into the asylum tonight?

 

_Elias_

You know that we are

You were there when we were looking at the grounds blueprints

 

_Jamilla_

Ugh

Well

A little birdy told me

That there’s no guard patrol around the north gate late at night

Between midnight to two to be exactly

 

_Elias_

Oh word?

 

_Jamilla_

Yes

And that it’s very easy to get into the gate

All someone would need is a key to the padlock

 

Okay…

 

_Jamilla_

A key like

The one that I left on my bedroom dresser

Ahem

 

_Elias_

Mashallah, Jamilla

You’re the best

 

_Jamilla_

Yeah, I know

Btw

If you tell anyone about these texts

I know all the places around the hospital that are great for hiding bodies

 

Lol

 

_Elias_

Haha, very funny Jamilla

Wait

That was a joke, right?

 

_Jamilla_

Just be safe, okay?

 

We will be, promise

 

_Elias_

Yeah

Thanks, sis, seriously

 

_Jamilla_

<3

 

+++

 

Elias stands in front of the group with his back straight and his mouth set into a firm line like a general. Sana has to stop herself from rolling her eyes, especially since Mutta has his camera hoisted over his shoulder, capturing everything on film already.

It’s just about midnight, and they’re standing outside of the gates of the dilapidated portion of Lier Sykehus, doing some preliminary filming for the show. Yousef and Even have already passed out all the necessary gear they’ll need to explore the asylum grounds: hardhats, heavy gloves, flashlights, first aid kits, video cameras, clip-on microphones, dowsing boxes, and road flares. Sana had taken the items wordlessly, sticking the hardhat on top of her hijab. Eva helps her clip the microphone on and Sana slips the battery pack into her jacket pocket. Beside her, Vilde is practically bouncing with excitement. Chris pulls out a flask, winks at Mutta’s camera, and then takes a long sip.

“Okay, so there’s four buildings no longer in use, and each of them have their own unique story,” Elias says. “So we’re gonna divide and conquer.”

Sana raises her eyebrows, exchanging a dubious look with Noora.

Vilde half-raises her hand. “Is that really a good idea, with all the ghosts and -”

“There are no ghosts!” Elias huffs.

“Generally it’s not a good idea, no,” Adam cuts him off, “But we’re gonna do it so that we can get as much filmed as possible, just in case we end up getting caught by the cops and need to hightail outta here.”

“Also, sometimes ghosts don’t appear with groups so large,” Even adds. “If we’re in smaller numbers -”

“Alright,” Elias claps. “So, the teams are me, Eva and Noora to building A, Mutta, Even and Chris to building B, Mikael, Adam and Vilde to building E, and Yousef and Sana in building F.”

Sana closes her eyes for a moment, pressing her lips together. Beside her, Bakir and Jeremias start snickering. Noora nudges her in the ribcage. When Sana opens her eyes again, Yousef is staring right at her, a tentative smile on his face. He has a purple bandana on underneath his hardhat; it’s impossibly cute.

“You gonna be okay?” Eva whispers, before taking a long drink from Chris’s flask. “You know, just you and...”

Sana tries to act like she’s braver than she is. “Yeah, it’ll be fine. We’ll just poke around some of the rooms and then be out in a few minutes, probably.”

“Yeah,” Eva presses. “But it’s just going to be the two of you -”

Sana clears her throat. “It’s no big deal.”

Mutta positions everyone in front of his video camera, Lier Sykehus is the background. Elias swings his arms out slightly; George squawks and flies slightly higher before nesting in Chris’s hair. Even though a good portion of the show, like going back and explaining everything they saw happens in the studio, Sana knows the guys try to do as much of the filming in the field as possible.

“Hey everyone, especially all the beautiful ladies out there,” Elias says. “Today on _Briskeby Unsolved_ , we’re gonna be exploring Lier Sykehus -”

“As part of our ongoing investigation into the most haunted places of Norway, and eventually, Europe,” Even says, grinning at the camera.

Halima makes a soft, snorting noise. “You mean as part of our ongoing investigation into the most mysterious places of Norway that have completely reasonable explanations behind -”

“He said what he said,” Øyvind tosses her head back.

“Whether it’s actually haunted or not,” Mikael jumps in, rolling his eyes, “it’s one of the creepiest places in the whole country.”

“Little is known about this abandoned asylum, besides the fact that it was notorious for conducting fucked up experiments on patients, including intercision,” Adam adds.

“So tonight, with our special guests -” Elias pauses here.

Mutta pans the camera over the girls. All of them wave, except for Sana, who just gives the lens a disgruntled look. Vilde glances back at Sana, horrified, and tries to elbow her in the side. Somewhere behind her, Sana hears Yousef’s soft chuckle.

“ - My smart, beautiful sister and her friends, we’re going to figure out what exactly is happening here,” Elias finishes.

“We’ll be splitting up in four groups to be able to show you guys as much of this hellhole as possible,” Adam says, pointing towards the camera.

“So, sit tight, while we take you on an adventure through Lier Sykehus!” Yousef says.

 

+++

 

Sana doesn’t think she’s ever really thought about how creepy the dark is until she’s inside the old building, and she can’t see anything but inky blackness beyond the shine of the light on her hardhat. Sana lifts the camera in her hand up slightly, flicking on the light on that as well. Bakir stands so close to her that she can feel the press of his body against her leg, and it’s comforting. Yousef stands a few feet away, his own camera in one hand and a flashlight in the other. He’s pointing his flashlight down a long hallway of doors, which Sana assumes used to be old examination rooms.

“I completely regret this, you know,” Sana mutters as Yousef turns to point the camera right at her. “Noora was right, no bus is worth this.”

Yousef laughs. “That was my exact reaction the first time Elias and I went exploring in one of these places.”

Sana shudders. “I don’t know how he can be in places like this and continue to insist that there’s no… spirits or anything in these places.”

“Have you seen a ghost already, Sana?” Yousef teases her. “I hope you caught it on camera.”

Sana rolls her eyes. “You’re being really blasé for someone who ran out of a room screaming on the last episode -”

“Maybe I’m just tough because you’re here with me,” he says.

He smiles at her, wide and adorable. Sana’s heart catches. She tries to tell herself it’s from being in this extremely spooky place and not from the way Yousef makes her feel. Bakir makes a small, snorting noise next to her, like he knows exactly how she’s feeling. She doesn’t dignify it with a response.

“Uhm, so we should probably film some of the background of this building, right?” Sana asks, clearing her throat.

Yousef’s smile slips slightly, but then he nods, eyes bright. “Right, yeah. Ready, camerawoman?”

Sana rolls her eyes and directs her camera straight at Yousef, making sure it’s recording. Slightly behind him, Adilah is slinking around the room, sniffing at old medical equipment and what looks like an incredibly rusty chair. Right outside, an owl hoots. Sana’s grip on the camera tightens.

“So, Sana and I are investigating building F, which is home to one of the most well-known ghost stories of Lier Sykehus,” Yousef says, looking right into the camera. “Supposedly, this is the place where the Intercised Soulmates, Synnøve and Olav, turned to golden Dust.”

Sana’s hand doesn’t waver, but her eyes jump to Yousef’s in shock. He’s not looking at the camera anymore but directly at her. Beside her, Bakir seems to have gone very still. Sana’s mouth is dry, and she’s absolutely going to kill Elias for sending her in here, with Yousef, alone.  

“Most of the action here supposedly happens in the operating room where they were intercised,” Yousef says. “So why don’t we go check it out?”

He half turns, waiting for Sana to walk up with him. Adilah meanders towards the hallway, tail swishing slowly as she waits for them. For a moment, Sana can only stand still, staring at Yousef’s profile. Bakir thumps his tail against her and then goes towards Adilah. Sana sighs, squaring her shoulders, and following him.

“According to the map Elias sent me, the operating room should be right down this hall,” Yousef tells her quietly.

“Right,” Sana says.

As they go down the hall, she finds herself moving closer and closer to Yousef, until she’s practically pressed up against his side. She’s not embarrassed to admit that this whole place is supremely creepy. The air feels thick and stale over her body, as if it’s covering her like a second skin. Every small noise she hears, she knows, logically, it’s probably just the noises of this old building settling. But she can’t completely convince herself the wind shifting through the holes in the walls isn’t actually someone - something - moaning.

To distract herself, she flips part of the camcorder so she can record herself, like a selfie. “So far, all we’ve seen is a bunch of roaches and some rusty pipes. Nothing too supernatural yet.”

Yousef laughs, and pushes himself into the frame. “Unless, of course, those roaches are the ghosts of roaches past.”

Ahead of them, Bakir shakes his head. “Gross.”

“This is it,” Yousef says once they reach a metal door with bars over the windows.

It looks more like the entrance to a prison cell than anything else. She stops walking as Yousef pushes the door open. The beam of his flashlight pans across the room. There’s graffiti all over the dirty walls, mostly names and tags. On either ends of the room are beds that look like torture devices, with decrepit leather straps to hold patients down. There are also small cages next to the beds, which Sana only assumes was for holding dæmons.

All of it, all together, makes Sana’s heart squeeze painfully. She hates that this is the legacy of medicine, which so many people could become doctors and take an oath to not harm people and then turn around and exclusively torture other living beings.

Yousef pauses. “Sana?”

She drags her eyes from the cages to his face. He’s staring at her with a soft, concerned look on his face. Sana licks her lips, and shakes her head at him.

“No, it’s nothing,” she says, moving to push past him.

But Yousef just sticks his flashlight into the pocket of his jacket, and grabs onto her wrist. She stills, standing just a hair’s breadth away from him in the doorway. The light on her hardhat directly illuminates his face, and he squints a little as he looks back at her. Both of them have lowered their video cameras, though she doesn’t know if his is off or not. Hers certainly is still rolling.

“Sana, we don’t have to go in here,” he says, softly. “We can just go back outside, wait for everyone else.”

“No,” she shakes her head. “It’s - we have to get the shots, right?”

“Forget the shots,” he says. “I just want to make sure you’re alright.”

Sana’s eyes scan over his face. “It’s just… this is so horrible, you know? That these doctors used to...”

Yousef nods. “Yeah, I know.”

She shakes her head. “I… anyone of us could have been thrown in here and left to rot, just for… just for existing, you know? Even, for being bipolar, Elias for having depression, Noora and Eva and Mikael and Adam for being gay...”

“I know,” Yousef says again, softly.

“It’s times like this where it’s hard to believe in the goodness of people,” Sana says. “You know, Islam teaches that we should look for the good in everyone, but this… people used to be intercised here, Yousef. And it’s hard to think that there’s much good inside of the people who did it. Didn’t they see how horrible it left people and dæmons?”

Yousef takes a deep breath. “All of these places, you know, all the places that we investigate... ”

“Yeah?”

“A lot of times, on the show, all we focus on is whether there’s actually ghosts or not, and we have a lot of fun and we scare ourselves,” Yousef says. “But I think what I’ve taken away from all of the places we go to is really that sometimes all we can do is try to leave the world better than how we came into it. We have to ensure that places like these stay in the past where they belong. That the ghosts that roam these halls - real or metaphorically or whatever - don’t continue to haunt the future.”

Sana stares at Yousef for a moment. “That’s really deep for a YouTube channel star.”

Yousef laughs slightly bashfully, ducking his head a little. “You know, my imam said the same thing last week.”

“You two coming in here, or what?” Bakir asks loudly.

Sana startles and turns to stare at her dæmon, who’s standing in the middle of the room, staring at her and Yousef. A little bit further in, Adilah is sniffing around one of the cage, making small, distressed noises. Yousef glances towards her as well, and immediately goes over to her. Sana steps into the room tentatively, watching as Yousef kneels down, sliding his hand over Adilah’s back.

“This place is horrible,” Bakir says when Sana reaches him.

Sana nods in agreement, lifting her video camera up again. She turns on the flashlight and sweeps it around the room, being careful to avoid shooting Adilah and Yousef, trying to give them as much privacy as possible. Sana turns, catching sight of an old, metallic cabinet in one of the corners of the room. She’s sure there’s nothing left in there, but she goes over to it anyway, making sure to catch everything on the camera. She tentatively opens one of the cabinet doors, thankful for the heavy gloves.

Her eyes widen in surprise at the shelves. The cabinet is completely stocked with what looks like new medical equipment. Bandages, surgical tools, and rows of anesthetics fill up the entire thing. She lowers her video camera slightly, peering into the cabinet. Everything looks brand new, yes, but completely out of date. There’s an instrument inside that probably hasn’t been medically relevant since the 1940s.

She hears footsteps behind her, and turns, Yousef’s name on her lips.

But Yousef is still across the room with Adilah, examining one of the surgical tables. Her heart starts to beat rapidly in her chest, and she tells herself to relax. The noise was probably just Bakir, coming to sniff around. She smirks, and looks down to speak to him.

He’s nowhere near her, though.

“Bakir?” she calls.

Sana glances around the room, but she doesn’t see her dæmon anywhere. She twists, shining the light from her hardhat and her camera all over the room, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Something pulls at her, sharp and anxious.

“Where’s Bakir?” Sana asks loudly, panic rising in her. “Have you seen him? Did he leave the room?”

Yousef turns, glancing in her direction with a worried look on his face. Adilah seems frozen where she stands, the lines of her body rigid.

Yousef’s face goes pale. “No, I thought he was right behind you -”

“He wouldn’t just walk off without telling me,” Sana’s voice gets high. “Bakir!”

Something cold and painful tugs at her heart, and Sana gasps, almost bending over. It’s like nothing she’s ever felt before, and she can’t tell if it’s purely physical or just pure panic. It’s so intense though that she crouches on the floor, vision spinning. Sana thinks she hears something drop, not recognizing that the video camera has fallen from her slack grip. The next thing she knows, everything goes dark.

“Sana!”

 

+++

 

It can only be a few moments later - Sana knows this because it’s not television, and blackouts are usually just a couple of minutes along, unless it’s something really serious - but everything is extremely hazy and feels too slow as she wakes up. The room is unnaturally bright, and she has to squint away at the glint of metal and fluorescent lights everywhere.

“Sana!” Bakir’s voice calls of plaintively.

She slowly glances up, trying to see through the glares; then, she almost falls over again in shock.

The entire room shines like it must have back in its heyday. Gone are the graffiti marks over the walls and the rusted appliances. Now, everything looks brand new and sturdy. A streak of fear runs through Sana as she spots Bakir in one of the cages, cowering back against the thick bars. Just a few feet away, Adilah is in her own cage. She makes a low, whimpering sounds. Sana tries to stand up to get to them, but then a low, sharp pain hits her in the side. She gasps, almost bending down again. When she glances across the room at Bakir, her headlight catches on something bright and golden against his coat. His blood.

A frightened yelp catches her attention.

A younger woman, dressed as a nurse, has Yousef strapped down to one of the surgical beds. Sana can only watch, frozen in horror, as the nurse checks the leather bindings holding him down. As he thrashes against the straps, San’s first thought is that this is some kind of horrible prank that Yousef and Elias cooked up. But even as it passes through her mind, she doesn’t believe it. Because there’s no way that they could do this to her or their dæmons. Elias would ever, ever touch Bakir, let alone put him in a cage or hurt him. Touching someone else’s dæmon was completely taboo; the only people who would ever do such a thing were -

An older man, dressed in surgical scrubs strides into the room from them with a scalpel in his hand. A dæmon shaped like a crow sits on one of his shoulders, squawking in her direction. Sana’s side throbs again and she gasps, pressing her palm into it. She’s worried to look down, knowing that there’ll be blood when she moves her hand away.

The doctor stands in the middle of the room, turning to face her.

“Now, now,” he says in a clipped tone, “I thought I told you two that everything would be fine if you didn’t give me any trouble. Synnøve, please be a good girl and get on the operating table for me.”

“Sana!” Yousef yells, struggling against the bonds. “Sana, get Bakir and get out of here -”

“Come, Synnøve, don’t make me wait,” the doctor interrupts. “Everything will be much more comfortable if you just get on the table and allow us to put you to sleep. The process will be quite simple.”

Bakir whines and Adilah slams into the side of her cage, calling out his name. The nurse tuts at both of them before vanishing from the room. She appears a moment later, next to Adilah’s cage. Sana cries out a warning, but it’s too late. The nurse sticks her hand in, hitting Adilah on her snout. Immediately, Yousef gasps, his body going taut with pain.

“Synnøve, I must warn you, if you don’t comply, I can still continue the Maystadt Process without your consent,” the doctor says, clucking in disapproval. “Though it will be much, much more painful -”

“What the fuck,” Yousef gasps, loud enough to reach her ears. “What the fuck, what the fuck -”

“See? Olav is complying just fine. Now, if you’ll just do the same - ”

Before Sana’s eyes, the nurse disappears. The doctor beings to walk towards Sana in a slow, measured trot, as if he’s looking for something only he can see. He stops about halfway across the room. It’s only then that Sana realizes that she’s parallel to Bakir, still stuck in his cage and snapping at the bars to try and get out of it.

“Sana!” Yousef yells, struggling against the straps.

“Synnøve,” the doctor says. “Things will be much easier if you just get back into your bed. But I will not hesitate to do things the hard way. This is for your own good, remember?”

Sana watches, horrified, as the doctor bends down, his scalpel shining in the light of her hardhat. It glints like newly polished silver. Just beyond that, Bakir growls and twists, slamming his body against the shiny cage door. Adilah lets out a large roar.

“There is a reason touching another’s dæmon is taboo,” the doctor continues. “And for you to claim that there’s enjoyment to be found there is… quite prosperous. There must be something diseased about your bond with your own dæmons, and this is the only way to end it -”

“Stop!” Sana jerks forward, holding her hands out in front of her pleadingly. “Stop!”

Her mind whirls and she has no idea what to do next. She wracks her brain, trying to think about what the fuck she can do, what anyone could do, in this situation. She’s scared out of her mind of being intercised, of losing her whole self, of losing Bakir. But she’s also frightened, completely and totally frightened, of what will happen to Yousef. Smart, funny, cute, adorakable Yousef, the one person she can always rely on, the person who always knows how to make her smile, the one person who makes her feel the way no one else does, the one person that she’s so helplessly in love with  -

“This is - it’s all my fault!”

Sana thinks she’s yelling the words. But a moment later, she realizes it’s Yousef screaming, his body going completely still on the operating table. His head is lifted slightly and when Sana snaps her head to look at him, his gaze is wild and desperate. The doctor pauses, standing up to look over at Yousef as well. But Yousef only stares back at Sana, breathing hard.

“Doctor, it’s all my fault, not San - not Synnøve’s,” Yousef says. “I - I tricked her, I told her that we were soulmates and that - that our connection made it all okay.”

Sana’s mouth goes completely dry.

“I love her,” Yousef continues. “And it’s - that’s not her fault. There’s nothing wrong with her or her dæmon, it’s me. Just - intercise me, but please, leave her alone. Please.”

“Now Olav, this is entirely inappropriate -” the doctor starts.

But Yousef just ploughs ahead, still staring right at Sana, rushing to get the words out.

“I’m in love with you. I am, completely,” he says.

Sana doesn’t know if she wants to laugh or cry or both, because this is. It’s so, one hundred percent Yousef, and they’re both about to be intercised by some ghost doctor from hell, and here he is. Trying to both save her life and be completely honest and earnest with her. As if the most important thing happening right now is that she knows exactly how he feels about her, right before he’s turned into the shell of himself.

Adilah’s roars grow louder and Bakir has joined in, his growls reverberating off of the walls of the room. The doctor is still going on his diatribe about how inappropriate it all is, and that Yousef’s ‘little speech is the result of his condition.’ He’s already leaning over Yousef, scalpel in his hand, as he seems to look for that thread, that invisible link between Yousef and Adilah.

And Sana - what is she even doing, on the floor?

She grits her teeth and pushes herself up, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her side throbs in protest, but she twists around anyway, back towards the rusted medicine cabinet. Her eyes scope out the tools on the shelves as fast as they can, before she spots and orbitoclast, something that she thought she would never see outside of a medical textbook.

She grabs the instrument and breaks into a run, right towards the doctor. She has no idea what she’s doing - what she’s even thinking, to be honest, she wished she had paid more attention to Even’s lectures about exorcism instead of laughing at him with Isak - but she has to do something.

She has to.

“Sana!” Yousef yells her name, right as the doctor turns to face her.

“Synnøve! This is completely unacceptable behavior!” the doctor yells. “Nurse! Nurse!”

Strong hands grab at Sana’s shoulders, jerking her back. She tries to struggle out of their grasp, but can’t quite move. The orbitoclast drops from her hand, and she thrashes in earnest, only thinking that she needs to get to Yousef. But before she can do anything else - kick out, scream, cry - a few things happen all at once.

Adilah breaks out of her cage, the sound of splintering, crushed metal reverberating in Sana’s ears, even though she’s not even that close to the dæmon. Bakir lets out a victorious howl, sounding more like a wild wolf than Sana has ever heard. Adilah runs like she’s lunging at the doctor, her teeth beared as if she’s going straight for his neck.

Instead, a dæmon shaped like a lynx appears out of nowhere, slamming into the doctor. He lets out a pained scream as he falls to the floor. The crow dæmon squawks in surprise, flapping its wings like it’s about to attack the lynx. But a dæmon shaped as a raven swoops in, cawing and attacking the crow with his claws.

The arms gripping Sana fade automatically, and she almost falls to the floor again.

Instead of landing on broken linoleum, however, she collapses onto something incredibly warm and soft. A sharp thrill goes through her. It’s nothing like she’s ever felt before. It’s unbearably sweet while utterly breathtaking. She hears Yousef’s loud gasp across the room, and it’s only then that she realizes that Adilah has broken her fall.

The dæmon stands underneath her sturdily, like it’s not a big deal that Sana is slumped over her, using her for support. Bakir has stopped banging against the cage and Sana can only hear the sounds of the lynx and the raven distantly. All she can focus on is Adilah’s fur against her face and the warm, almost-too-pleasant sensation coursing throughout her entire body. Sana feels like she’s melting, sort of; she can only sharply inhale, fingers gripping into Adilah’s body. It’s like the a million stars are shining inside of her, sunbeams dancing through her veins and coating her heart in rainbow Dust.

Adilah gently moves her head to lick at Sana’s face.

“Are you alright?” Adilah asks.

“I -” Sana can’t even begin to speak.

She gently moves herself off of Adilah, but is too stunned to stand up. Instead, she maneuvers into a sitting position, crossing her legs as she tries to catch her breath on the floor. Her side no longer hurts; when she presses her hand into it, her fingers come away clean. Adilah calmly sits next to Sana, her tail curling around Sana’s back like a belt. It takes her a moment to realize that the room isn’t brightly lit anymore. It’s gone back to the darkness of before, with graffiti scrawled all over the walls and decrepit medical equipment around the room.

“Wonderful, isn’t it?“

Sana looks up, completely speechless.

The doctor and his crow are gone, not a trace left of either of them. A young woman - probably no older than Sana, she thinks - stands in the middle of the room, staring down at her. She has a wane, soft smile on her face. The lynx dæmon sits right by her feet, butting their head against her legs. The raven dæmon perches on her shoulder, preening their feathers. Behind the young woman, Bakir slowly crawls out of his cage, looking around warily. Yousef sits up on the table, a dazed expression on his face. He stares openly at Sana, not even seeming to notice the woman before her.

Sana finds her voice. “What’s wonderful?”

The young woman tilts her head, and Sana belated realizes that this must be Synnøve.

“Finding your soulmate, of course,” she says.

Synnøve stretches her arm out towards Sana, offering her hand. Sana hesitates only for a moment before reaching back towards her. Her hand is cold but still feels solid. Sana relies on Synnøve’s strength and weight to pull herself up until she’s standing too. Yousef is by her side a few moments later, his hand pressing protectively into her lower back. Sana leans into him slightly, just barely glancing up at him. Adilah circles around Sana to nuzzle her head against Yousef’s legs. Bakir joins them, muttering about how he’s never, ever coming into one of these haunted places again. Sana runs her fingers through the fur on his head, trying not to grip it too tightly.

Synnøve looks at Sana and Yousef, the grin widening on her face.

“Synnøve?” a voice says behind them.

Sana startles and twists to see a young man standing there, a wry smile on his face. He barely glances at her and Yousef as he circles around them. Once he reaches Synnøve he kisses her on the cheek, patting the lynx dæmon on the head as he does.

“New friends of yours?” he asks, gesturing towards Sana and Yousef.

“Yes, Olav,” she says, adoration clear in her eyes. “And look, they’re just like us.”

The young man - Olav - peers at Sana and Yousef curiously. “Are they?”

Bakir whispers, “What is happening?”

Synnøve giggles. “Yes. That horrible doctor was going to try to get them, but we got him first.”

“That’s my girl,” Olav sighs.

Synnøve turns back towards Sana and Yousef. “We better get going, and you two should, too.”

“Right,” Sana says faintly.

“This is such a horrible place,” Synnøve shakes her head. “But we won’t have to come back again, will we, Olav?”

He beams at her. “Never again.”

He leans in to kiss her again. Just as he makes contact, they both vanish. A gentle halo of gold Dust shines in the light of the hardhat where they had stood. Sana’s mouth drops open, and she gently presses herself into Yousef’s side.

“Incredible,” Adilah mutters.

Sana licks her lips and steps away from Yousef. She turns back towards the cabinet. The doors hang open slightly, and even from here, she can see the shelves are completely empty and rusted. Her video camera still sits a few feet away from it on the ground. When she goes over to pick it up, she’s surprised that it looks completely fine, not even a dent in it. When she pulls it up, she sees the green blinking light that indicates that it’s been recording the entire time.

She looks back over towards Yousef, shining the light from her hardhat directly onto him. He’s looking back at her already, something embarrassed and a little scared in his gaze, as he rubs at his wrists. Sana thinks that he’s not looking at her like that because of the ghosts, but because of everything he’s said. Her heart pounds in her chest, and she’s not sure what to do.

She opens her mouth to say something, anything, when Yousef speaks again.

“Sana, it’s not...” he sighs. “Let’s get out of here.”

She clears her throat, shifting her head back towards the door. The light illuminates the frame and the hallway just outside of it. She can’t deal with this, not right now. Everything is too hectic, too emotional. She needs to get out of this horrible, haunted place and she needs air and she needs to just - she need to think. She doesn’t need to feel, not at this moment.

“Sana?” Bakir’s voice is low, partially a question and partially a warning for her not to back away.

Sana walks towards the door. “Yeah, we should - we should get out of here.”

“Right,” Yousef says after a moment.

She hears his footsteps right behind her, and she knows Bakir and Adilah are following closely as well. As they walk down the hall, Sana can barely look at Yousef. She tries to distract herself by turning the video camera off and shoving it inside her jacket pocket. Her hands swing back down, just barely grazing against Yousef’s by accident.

Instead of moving away, Sana feels his palm, tentatively slide against hers. She swallows, curling her fingers up so that they’re holding hands. Behind them, Adilah makes a soft, snorting sound.

Bakir says, “You two are a mess.”

Sana rolls her eyes.

 

+++

 

**Los Losers <3 **

_[Sunday, 10:23]_

 

_Chris_

How’s everyone doing after our night of haunted debauchery? ;)

 

_Eva_

I still can’t believe you and Mutta made out in that creepy place

Ugh

 

_Chris_

Don’t be mad that you and Noora didn’t think of it first

 

_Noora_

Right

Cause that’s what all lovers want

To hook up surrounded by rusty pipes and mouse crap!

 

_Vilde_

Well, Yousef and Sana did it, so…

 

We didn’t hook up

How many times do I need to say it

 

_Eva_

Then what DID happen???

 

I told you

Nothing happened

 

_Noora_

Sana we won’t pester at you like Elias did

But you’ve gotta give us more than ‘nothing happened’

 

_Chris_

YEAH

Obviously something happened

It’s complicated

 

_Vilde_

Sana not to pressure you but!

You guys did come out holding hands

And…

 

And?

 

_Vilde_

Well I didn’t want to say anything last night

But did you pet Adilah on the head?

 

_Noora_

SANA DID WHAT NOW

 

_Chris_

?????!!!!!!!????????!!!!???

 

_Eva_

SANA????

 

Vilde

I don’t know what you’re talking about

In what universe do you think I would do that?

 

_Vilde_

I know what I saw!

Or

Okay I thought I saw it

That’s why I didn’t want to ask last night okay?

 

_Noora_

...Vilde

 

_Vilde_

What?

 

_Noora_

Just like you ‘saw’ a 3-headed dæmon dog?

 

_Vilde_

I DID SEE THAT

 

_Eva_

Yeah but it was Mikael and Adam playing a prank on you

I saw that puppet afterwards, btw

It looks totally fake

 

_Vilde_

You weren’t there, in the dark!!

You don’t know what it was like!

 

_Noora_

It doesn’t matter anyway because ghosts aren’t real, Vilde

We certainly didn’t see any

 

_Eva_

Well…

 

_Noora_

Babe!

 

_Eva_

Look I heard a baby crying!

It wasn’t an owl, I don’t care what you and Elias said

 

_Chris_

Well I didn’t see anything supernatural

Though it was funny to see Even try and use that ghost box thing

It was just a bunch of white noise though

Disappointing

 

_Noora_

And you didn’t see anything, right Sana?

 

When we left there were no ghosts in building F

 

_Noora_

See?

 

_Eva_

I heard what I heard

 

_Vilde_

Even if it’s not ghosts there’s something creepy happening there

That we can all agree on

 

_Noora_

Ugh

Well

It doesn’t matter because we’re never going back there

 

_Chris_

Amen to that, sister

 

_Vilde_

Yeah, and we got a lot of really good footage, right?

The guys are coming over to see but I think so

 

_Vilde_

Great :)

The sponsors said as long as we got some good shots they can take care of everything

So russ bus here we come!

 

_Chris_

WHOOOOOOOO

 

:)

 

_Eva_

Yay!

 

_Noora_

:)

 

+++

 

Sana hovers outside of the studio for a moment, her hand resting gently on the back of the door. She peeks her face through the small opening, glancing around the space.

Mutta and Tanveer are sitting against the black backdrop, going through some of the narrating pieces that are going to be spliced into the new episode. Elias sits behind the camera, Halima in his lap, watching Mutta through the lens. Mikael is fixing some of the lighting, while Khepri lays in right underneath the lamp. Even and Øyvind are sitting at the table, Even’s laptop open and headphones on. Sana thinks he’s scanning through his white noise program. Yousef is on the couch, his laptop in his lap. Adilah’s head is half on his leg, half on his keyboard. Sana swallows.

“Just go in there,” Bakir says, nudging the back of her knee with his snout.

“Bakir,” Sana says wearily.

“What have you got to lose?” he presses.

She frowns down at him. Sana hasn’t talked to Yousef since they had left building F, basically. As soon as they walked outside, everyone else was already done with their buildings. Much to Sana’s surprise and chagrin, nothing supernatural had happened to anyone else. She had been able to avoid most of the group’s questions about what had happened, and even dodged Elias’s suspicious looks as she dropped Yousef’s hand.

Sana had woken up not knowing how to feel about anything, really. But she had dreamed of the glowing warmth of the sun on her face and soft, short fur underneath her fingers. All during the day, all she could think about was the scared look on Yousef’s face and his firm, clear voice saying that he was in love with her. She wants, so desperately, to think that he was telling her the truth. But since then, he hasn’t tried to contact her, either.

She’s frightened that he was only saying those things to spare her, to give them more time. But even if he was only saying those things because they were about to be intercised, and he didn’t really mean them… well, the feelings that overtook her when Adilah touched her were not things that could be faked. Everyone knows that touching someone else’s dæmon isn’t supposed to feel good, like a thousand suns are lighting up inside of you. And it - it meant something, means something, that Sana had leaned into Adilah’s touch. She felt amazing, despite everything that had happened, and she knows that Yousef had felt it too.

Which would have been amazing to know, if it wasn’t so freaking terrifying.

Soulmates.

What does it even mean?

Bakir pushes his way into the studio without warning, letting out a cheerful greeting. Sana tenses before following him, waiting for a barrage of questions.

Instead, all of the guys just look up and wave to her, normal smiles on their faces, before going back to their work. Yousef glances at her and then looks away, down at his laptop. Sana hesitates, not sure what to do next. Bakir jumps up onto the couch, right next to Adilah. He curls up next to her, and then looks towards Sana. With what can only be described as a calculated look, he flicks his tail. It flutters over Yousef’s leg, finally resting against his knee.

Sana sucks in a gasp as an impossibly warm and just golden feeling fills her up. It’s less intense than when she was touching Adilah, but no less encompassing. Yousef goes completely still, his eyes flying to hers. Her heart beats too fast in her chest, and her mouth goes dry.

Then just as quickly as it happened, Bakir is swishing his tail off of Yousef. The feeling fades, but Sana still feels like she needs to sit down, or lean against the wall for support. Her knees feel like they’re about to buckle where she’s standing.

“Sana?”

She tears her gaze away from Yousef, suddenly embarrassed. She snaps her head to look at Elias, trying to compose herself slightly, raising her eyebrows at him. Her brother stares at her with a furrowed brown.

“What, Elias?” she tries to say coolly.

“I asked if you wanted to film some of the voiceovers for the show,” he says slowly. “We’re just about wrapped up, but it might be cool.”

“He asked you like ten times,” Halima adds, ears twitching.

“Oh,” Sana blinks. “Uhm, no, no I’m good.”

He nods slowly at her. “Okay. Well, that’s cool. We already started going through some of the footage from last night, and we got some really good stuff.”

“Yeah, your girls are so awesome,” Mikael smiles at her.

“We had a lot of fun with them!” Khepri says.

“Uhm, yeah,” Sana says, trying to smile. “Yeah, thanks again. We’re definitely getting our bus, too, so.”

“We should team up more,” Mutta says eagerly.

Mikael snickers. “Yeah, I bet you’d like that, huh?”

Sana swallows. “I think we’ll sit out, but thanks.”

“Awh, come on, why?” Mutta frowns.

Tanveer cocks her head. “Didn’t they have fun?”

Sana doesn’t dare look at Yousef. “I think Vilde need a bit more time to recover from your prank.”

Khepri sighs. “I told you that it was a bad idea -”

“Come on,” Mikael tries to defend himself. “It was hilarious -”

“Her dæmon almost tore Zohar in half!” Khepri says. “Man, that was scary -”

“He was just trying to protect her, it was sweet,” Mikael says. “And Adam and I had it completely under control -”

Sana interrupts. “Uhm, where are Adam and Zohar, anyway?”

Halima answers. “At work. But we’re meeting at Balkan soon!”

Elias pulls his phone out. “Shit, speaking of. We’d better get going, then.”

Sana still can’t look at Yousef, but she feels her heart sink.

“Sana, you want to come with us?” Mutta asks.

Sana shakes her head quickly. “No, I have, uhm, some homework to finish.”

“This is more important than school!” Halima says.

Sana smiles, something small but genuine. “Now, where have I heard that before?”

Halima huffs. “Come on, Bakir, convince Sana to come with us!”

Bakir snorts. “No one convinces Sana to do anything.”

She rolls her eyes. To her right, she hears a small sound, like someone is clearing their throat. She glances at Even, who’s staring at her instead of his laptop screen. He pulls his headphones down around his neck, giving her a calculating look.

“We should head out,” he says, still looking at her.

Sana moves out of the way of the doorway as all of the guys and their dæmons begin to collect themselves. She takes the time to sneak a peek at Yousef; he’s staring down at Adilah and Bakir, not even moving. Mutta, Tanveer, Mikael and Khepri all stroll past Sana, yelling out ‘see you later’ to her. She tries to smile back at them, but can’t tear her gaze from Yousef and their dæmons.

“Interesting stuff on your camcorder,” Øyvind says, appearing in front of Sana suddenly.

Sana feels her heartbeat quicken in panic as she stares at the dæmon. “Uhm.”

Even pops into her line of site, rolling his eyes. “Øyvind!”

She turns her furry head. “What?”

“Don’t tease her,” Even says, shaking his head. “Sana...”

“Uhm, it wasn’t -”

“Don’t worry,” Even’s voice is low. “Yousef asked me to edit the footage, and no one else has seen it but me. Everything that happened, it’s our secret. Okay?”

Relief and confusion rushes through Sana. “But, Even -”

“Let’s just say you owe us some backup, next time Elias tries to say it’s all gravitational differences or tricks of the light or mass hallucinations,” Even says, smiling wryly.

Sana nods slightly. “Right, okay. Deal.”

Elias is pulling a hoodie on over his head as he walks, body half-turned toward Yousef. Sana thinks this is the first time in a week that she’s seen Halima on the floor, walking by herself. She seems extremely put out, making gurgling noises about how Elias should invest in zip-up sweaters.

“You sure you don’t wanna come?” Elias is asking.

Sana catches the tale-end of Yousef’s answer. “ - Just got a lot of stuff to finish, I’m good.”

Elias shrugs, almost too carelessly. “Okay, see you later bro.”

It takes Sana a moment to realize that Yousef isn’t going with the guys to Balkan. She doesn’t know if she’s happy or panicked about it, but knows she has to figure out how she feels within the next few seconds.

Elias catches Sana’s eye as he walks out of the studio. He has a mischievous look on his face.

“Go easy on him,” he mutters before shouting for Halima to wait for him.

Then, it’s just Sana, Yousef, and their dæmons left in the studio.

It seems too big and too quiet. Sana licks her lips. She considers retreating back into the privacy of her own room, where she can pretend like her heart isn’t about to pound out of her chest. Bakir is staring at her with a slightly annoyed look on his face; he inclines his head towards Yousef, like Sana is supposed to come sit down on the couch.

She takes a deep breath and considers ignoring him. But then she looks at Yousef, really looks at him. She takes in the careful way he’s holding himself, not even looking at his laptop screen or typing anything at all. He’s gazing just slightly past her eyes, maybe at the spot between her eyebrows or at one of the folds in her hijab. Her hands clench into fists and then relax.

She walks slowly towards the couch and sits down next to Bakir. She carefully arranges herself so that Adilah can’t easily reach her without moving, without warning.

“Hi,” Sana says.

Yousef finally catches her eye. “Hi.”

“Uhm,” Sana gestures towards the laptop. “What are you working on?”

“Just emailing -”

“For goodness sake, would you two just cut to the chase already?” Adilah asks, shaking her head before laying it down on top of Bakir’s.

“Adilah,” Yousef says warningly.

“You can talk about it, or I can just climb into your lap, Yousef,” Bakir says. “That would be much more enjoyable -”

“Bakir!” Sana says, horrified.

She spares a glance at Yousef, who’s not even looking at her. His face is screwed up, with his eyes closed. He rubs one hand over his face, the other one gripping the base of his laptop tightly. Sana’s throat feels so impossibly dry.

“Yousef -” she tries to say.

“Sana, Sana wait,” he says.

Yousef opens his eyes again and looks at her. He takes a deep breath, and then gently closes his laptop, before placing it on the empty spot of the couch beside him. He hand then goes up to rub at the back of his hair, partially covered by a snapback. He stares at her without saying anything. Sana looks back at him, unsure of what to say or do, again.

Adilah groans like she’s in physical pain.

“Why did you ask Even to edit the video?” Sana blurts out before she can stop herself.

Yousef’s eyebrows twitch. “I… I didn’t want that to be on our channel. It was… private, and felt wrong to… expose Synnøve and Olav like that.”

It’s unspoken, but Sana understands anyway that Yousef also means he didn’t want to share what happened between the two of them with anyone else, either.

“I know it’s dumb, maybe,” Yousef says, still looking embarrassed. “When the whole point of _Briskeby Unsolved_ is to expose supernatural things, but...”

“No,” Sana says quietly. “No, I understand.”

He licks his lips. “Sana, about what happened, what I said… I need to explain...”

She can’t tear her gaze away from his. Beside her, Bakir gently nips at her thigh with his teeth.

Yousef shakes his head. “I can’t imagine what you must be thinking. I know I just blurted all that stuff out at you...”

Sana tries to brace herself for his rejection. She takes a sharp inhale in, trying to push down the crashing wave of bitterness and disappointment and just plain old pain at what he’s about to say next. That he likes her, of course, but he didn’t mean anything that he said. And that he’s not sure what exactly’s going on between their dæmons; maybe it was residual ghost magic from Synnøve and Olav’s epic love story, or something -

Quietly, Adilah says,“ You can do this, Yousef.”

Yousef takes a shuddering breath. “I know it wasn’t the most ideal place to hear that some dork is in love with you. Hell, it’s probably the last place ever you’d want to hear it -”

Wait, what?

“- But I meant it,” Yousef says, staring at her with his impossibly dark eyes. “I’m in love you, Sana.”

“Finally,” Bakir mutters as Sana’s jaw drops.

“And I swear,” he continues. “I swear, you and I are soulmates.”

Adrenaline pumps through her blood but it’s nothing like it was back in Lier Sykehus. This is pure joy, just unadulterated happiness, and Sana feels a giddy smile spreading across her face. She just can’t help it, and doesn’t even try to stop it. Slowly, Yousef’s body seems to melt into contentment as his eyes scan across her face, looking for any sign of discomfort of negativity. But Sana can only shrug at him helplessly, grinning at him harder than she ever has in her entire life.

For once, she’s almost speechless.

Almost.

“I’m in love with you too,” she says.

She barely notices the haughty look Bakir gives her. “Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Yousef grins back at her, eyes shining like he can’t believe that she’s real. Tentatively, he lifts his hand up; his palm hovers half an inch away from Bakir’s back. Adilah flicks her tail, looking smug.

“Can I?” he asks softly.

Sana nods.

Yousef gently places his hand down on Bakir. His fingers thread through his fur, before his hand slides down, gently scratching through. It’s exactly the way Sana does it. Her heart would swell with even more joy if she weren’t so completely overwhelmed by the sensations coursing through her. Everything seems brighter, warmer, and just more colorful. Her heart races in her chest and she can’t stop smiling at the golden haze pumping throughout her body. Yousef glances at her, tears in his eyes, as if he can’t believe what’s happening, either. As if this is all some kind of miracle.

No; as if she’s some kind of miracle.

Between them, Adilah and Bakir make noises of contentment, snuggling into each other even more.

Sana leans forward slightly, to place her hand over Yousef’s. His hand stills and he flips it so that their palms are against one another, the back of his hand still on top of Bakir. And it’s like Sana can feel Yousef’s warm touch and Bakir’s soft fur and even Adilah’s content purr throughout her entire body.

“Wow,” Yousef lets out a breath.

She grins back at him.

 

+++

 

**Yousef**

_[Sunday, 21:21]_

 

I was just thinking

The power of our love set Synnøve and Olav free, didn’t it?

:)

Yeah

I guess it did

Does it make me a bad friend from wanting to rub this in Mikael and Adam’s face?

Their love didn’t lead to restless souls finding peace

Yousef

What?

Our love is epic!

I want to brag about it

Don’t tell me you weren’t thinking the same thing about Noora and Eva

Or Even and Isak

...I’m not saying I WASN’T thinking that

 

See? ;)

But I don’t want to rub it in our friends’ faces!

Also, didn’t we agree to keep this to ourselves?

At least for the time being

I know, and I still want to do that

But…

Yousef!

I know, I know

Lol

This is why you’re the better half

Was that ever a question?

<3

<3

Though I will admit

That being soulmates?

That’s amazingly epic

<3

<3

Adilah says goodnight

Bakir says goodnight, too

I love you, Sana.

I love you, Yousef.

 

+++

**Author's Note:**

> Quick guide to each character and their dæmon:
> 
> Sana - Bakir (african golden wolf)  
> Yousef - Adilah (persian leopard)  
> Elias - Halima (fennec fox)  
> Mikael - Khepri (capybara)  
> Mutta - Tanveer (markhor)  
> Adam - Zohar (desert monitor)  
> Even - Øyvind (red deer)  
> Noora - Jeremias (demoiselle crane)  
> Vilde - Kjetil (doberman)  
> Chris - George (red-footed booby)  
> Eva - Eduard (european polecat)  
> Jamilla - Xidig (dorcas gazelle)
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you again for reading! Please leave a comment if you're so inclined and let me know what you think!
> 
> And to Eva - happy holidays and I hope you loved your gift! <3


End file.
